Getting value from executive MBA programs: select candidates and programs wisely for the best return on investment

HR Magazine, July, 2004 by Kathryn Tyler

* The required time commitment. EMBA programs typically last 15 to 24 months; the average is 21 months. EMBA students commonly meet two evenings per week or all day on Friday and Saturday twice a month.

EMBA students are required to spend large amounts of time in their programs--at least eight hours per week in class and 10 additional hours studying and working on group projects--plus commuting and residency time.

Already overburdened professionals who undertake an EMBA program can expect to make serious concessions in their work and personal lives. Schools say this imbalance is short term and therefore feasible. However, two years can seem like a long time to a manager waiting for maximum productivity, a co-worker picking up the slack or a spouse managing four kids alone.

"Employers are giving up one day per week, on average," says Kalnitz.

Kent Ash, regional director for the American Airlines credit union, and a May 2004 graduate of the EMBA program at Fort Worth's Texas Christian University, says his academic load "did not negatively impact my work performance. But it totally affected my home life. Something had to give. I missed all of my teenagers' sporting events. But, hopefully, at 13 and 15, they understand."

Says Kalnitz: "Work is No. 1 because it pays the bills. School is No. 2, and, unfortunately, family is No. 3. I couldn't go to every baseball game or recital. You give up things. My wife picked up the load."

To minimize the stress, Mounts says, "employers need to give people time flexibility to manage all the things that are important--family, work and school. I had an agreement for an additional four weeks off per year."

* The student body. The average EMBA student is a 38-year-old male working in a highly demanding middle- or upper-management position with about 15 years of work experience.

"You learn as much from the other students as you do from the professors," says Ash.

Mounts says: "People in the program alongside your employees are providing insight about their industry. It helps your executive understand the industry better and how to help product offerings to that industry. The single largest value is networking."

* Campus residency. Residency may mean staying overnight on campus every other weekend, living for a week on campus at the beginning of each semester or traveling abroad.

Residency is a plus, Mounts says. "You want people to go overnight. Relationships don't develop when sitting in class. That happens after you finish all of your homework and you're unwinding and catching up. That's where those relationships are fortified."

* Travel abroad. An international partnership between universities is a hot trend. Trips abroad, especially to expanding markets such as China, can be a huge bonus if employees travel to countries where their company wants to grow.

On the other hand, such trips can be superfluous. Says Ash: "We went on a 10-day trip to Germany and England. We could have done what we did there, here in Fort Worth."

* Academic requirements--and stature. The academic requirements for EMBAs at some universities are less stringent than those for traditional full-time MBA programs at other schools or even at the same school, according to some observers.